If you've ever been paired against me in an Eternal Struggle tournament, you've almost certainly seen me playing my usual deck, a non-standard Affinity build.

If your initial reaction was to dismiss mono-Black Affinity as amateurish or suboptimal, I can't say I'd blame you. When I first started playing in the Eternal Struggle (back in ES 1.3, before it was even called "Eternal Struggle" yet, if memory serves), my only ambition was to find some deck I could afford to build that wouldn't make me look like a complete fool for playing it. I had the Arcbound Ravagers (as an investment -- I had never actually played them), but didn't want to pay for Chrome Moxes or Glimmervoids,so I started testing a single-color build. If nothing else, I thought, I could probably pass it off as "rogue" rather than just "budget".

But goldfishing the deck, and a multi-colored version by means of proxying and imagination, began to suggest that the mono-colored build was actually faster. I brought it to the tournament and, to my great surprise, finished the Swiss rounds at the top of the standings, going on to claim fourth place. Since then, I've used the same deck, with some adjustments, at almost all of the ES tournaments I've played in. It frequently gets me to the top 8, and in ES 1.14, it earned me my first tournament win -- something that I never would have anticipated back when I was starting out in 1.3.

Repeated success with the deck has caused me to reflect that it may not be as suboptimal as I had originally thought. In this article, I'll go through the ways in which Mono-Black Affinity differs from traditional Affinity builds, and examine the ramifications of those differences. Then, I'll provide some limited match-up analyses, and take a look at the present and future viability of the deck in the Classic format.

• The Latest Build
  • Why an "Other"-type Build?
• Differences from Multi-colored Affinity
  • Lands
  • Dark Ritual
  • Shrapnel Blast
  • Atog
  • Card-drawing
  • Artifact Destruction
• Match-ups
  • An Aside on the Sideboard
  • Graveyard-based Combo
  • Aggro Decks without Reach
  • Multicolored Affinity
  • Random Control
  • Boros Deck Wins
  • Mono-Red or Green/Red Aggro/Burn
  • Goblins
  • TEPS
  • Haterade
• Viability and Hate Cards
  • Kataki, War's Wage
  • Shattering Spree
  • Seeds of Innocence
  • Split Second (Sudden Shock, Sudden Death, Krosan Grip)
  • Null Rod
• In Conclusion

The Latest Build

Why an "Other"-type Build?

In his article "The Daffinitive Affinity Guide" (which I recommend that any prospective Affinity players read, especially since I'm not giving any advice on how to play the deck in this article), Mark Young describes four general types of Affinity builds, according to the type of mana acceleration they use: Vial, Mox, Mantle, and "Other". My build falls into the "Other"category, which means that it uses whatever cheap artifacts it can lay its hands on to reduce the cost of Frogmite and Myr Enforcer.

Paradise Mantle I dismissed out-of-hand as being too slow. Since it costs as much to to equip as it produces, there's a delay of at least one turn before it becomes an improvement over Welding Jar. What's worse, there will be times when it will make you choose between casting a spell and sending the equipped creature into combat, to say nothing of the fact that it takes a break from accelerating you every time the creature is killed.

Chrome Mox and Aether Vial have essentially the same problem, which is that they require you to fill your deck with sub-optimal cards to make them good. If you look at the lists in Young's article, you'll see that they include less-efficient (in terms of dealing damage) cards like Somber Hoverguard (to feed the Mox) or Myr Retriever (to get more use out of a Vial set at 2). Both also involve some kind of disadvantage: Mox costs you a card -- and it may be difficult to find a colored card that you're willing to part with -- while Vial has a delay of at least one turn before it starts working, and a limited selection of cards that it can cheat into play (the above list has eight creatures that cost one mana -- the same as the Vial -- and four that cost two, and the rest don't count).

Of course, you might look at cards like Phyrexian Walker and Welding Jar in my build and say that it, too, has been filled with sub-optimal cards in the interest of casting a lot of spells early. But my experience suggests otherwise. The Walker is surprisingly good, partly as an attacker that you can toss a Plating to in mid-combat, partly as an occasional defender against bears, but mostly as a cheap creature that can be easily clamped and sacrificed. And Welding Jar is an important source of tempo advantage that I believe is often underrated: when you use it to save a creature, you're still making a 1-for-1 trade, but you get to attack with that creature next turn.

Differences from Multi-colored Affinity

If you're going to play an Affinity build that uses just one color, I think Black is the obvious choice. Disciple of the Vault is the most important colored card in the deck, and being able to equip Cranial Plating at instant speed is a big help in getting around chump-blockers. But you can probably find Affinity builds that splash any of the other four colors.

Lands

Interestingly, I think one of the best arguments in favor of a mono-colored build is that you get to run basic lands. The artifact lands are too valuable to omit, of course, and in my recent builds I make room for a couple of Blinkmoth Nexuses, but my mana base is usually about half basic land. Staying mono-colored not only saves you from having to play Glimmervoid, or other non-basics with risky drawbacks, but also gives you resilience in the face of hate cards such as Ghost Quarter or Kataki, War's Wage.

Dark Ritual

I don't actually run Dark Ritual in my latest builds, but I did in earlier versions, and I don't think it's as dumb as it sounds. The biggest advantage it offers is the chance to get Cranial Plating out on turn 1. Even if you don't manage that, Affinity's goal in the early game is to dump your whole hand on the table as quickly as possible, and an extra two mana can really help.

Shrapnel Blast

Five damage for two mana is a great deal, and having to sacrifice an artifact is a pretty minor drawback in this deck. There's no question that Shrapnel Blast is a good card, but honestly, I don't really miss it that much. Affinity usually wins overwhelmingly or not at all; it's pretty rare that I find myself in a situation where an extra five damage would win me a game that I'm about to lose otherwise. And the deck does have other sources of reach (Disciple of the Vault) and removal (Darkblast),though admittedly they're not quite as efficient.

Atog

Atog is probablythe non-Black card I miss the most. Mainly it's a redundant Arcbound Ravager, another way to trigger Disciple of the Vault or move modular counters around, but it can also get you some fast wins if its path happens to be clear. If I were to move into another color, Atog would be one of the first cards I'd want to add. On the other hand, many recent Extended Affinity builds, which do have access to Red mana, run few or no copies of Atog, so maybe the concensus is that it's not really necessary.

Card-drawing

Being able to refill your hand cheaply if you're about to run out of steam is important for Affinity. Thoughtcast,the traditional choice, is good at the job, but in Classic, it has two cards that are strong competition for the role: Skullclamp and Night's Whisper.

Skullclamp is what the kids call an "auto-include". If it's legal in the format, there's no question that it belongs in this deck. Night's Whisper is less of a certainty, but if you want more card-drawing, I think it compares well to Thoughtcast. For one more mana (most of the time) and two life (a bearable drawback considering that the Affinity deck is usually the aggressor), you get the same effect without having to stretch your color requirements. It's also worth noting that Night's Whisper will be easier to cast after having lost all of your artifacts to some sweeping hate card.

Artifact Destruction

Recent Extended Affinity decks have been sideboarding or even maindecking some amount of artifact destruction, such as AncientGrudge orKrosanGrip. Partly this is to help gain an edge in the mirror match, but it's also important to be able to destroy an Isochron Scepter imprinted with Counterspell or Orim'sChant. A mono-Black deck just doesn't have this option. In theory, it gains speed by giving up access to these control cards, but I can't say that I wouldn't run artifact destruction if there were any in Black. However, I don't think that there are any decks running key artifacts that are (a) prevalent in the metagame and (b) a bad match-up for Mono-Black Affinity. So while I think that doing without artifact destruction may be a risk, it's one I'm willing to take in the current environment.

Match-ups

Let me preface this section by saying that I don't test much. I know I should, but I usually lack the time and/or patience for it. So these match-up analyses are not rigorously researched, but rather the impressions I've gotten from my tournament experience against these decks. If your own experience corroborates or contradicts mine, please share it in the forums.

An Aside on the Sideboard

First let me pre-empt an obvious question about the sideboard, namely: why does it contain so many controlling cards? Is it really a good idea to slow yourself down like that? If you spend turn 1 casting Duress, for example,you're probably not also casting Frogmite.

Well, for one thing, any card you could have in the sideboard would almost have to be controlling. If there were anything that could make your deck faster, it would already be in the main. But more to the point, the control cards are useful for two purposes: to stop combo, which was planning to go off faster than you anyway, and to stop control -- or any deck that brings in a silver bullet -- from locking you out of the game. While casting a Duress may slow you down in the short term, it's likely to give you more turns while your opponent waits for a replacement for his lost trump card, and you can use those turns better.

The cards I would say are essential in the sideboard are Duress and Cremate (whichshould really be Extirpate now, but the above list is pre-Planar Chaos). The latter does wonders for your game against any deck that uses the graveyard, while the former is generally good against any kind of combo or control. The rest of the cards can be changed around as you please. In particular, while Pithing Needle is a good catch-all countermeasure and a cheap artifact to boot, I don't think you should run out and spend 20 tickets apiece on it just for this deck.

You could replace the Cremates with Tormod's Crypt, which has the benefit of being a low-cost artifact, but in my experience, being able to interrupt a combo in progress is much better than postponing the time when the combo can start. Similarly, I originally had Chalice of the Void, again because it's an artifact that can be played for little or no mana, but I took it out when I decided it would rarely hurt my opponent more than it hurt me.

If you don't know what cards to take out in any given match-up, start with the Darkblasts and the Night's Whisper.

Graveyard-based Combo

Very favorable, especially post-board when you bring in Cremate, but even pre-board, in my experience. The graveyard-based combos that I've seen aren't faster than Affinity and don't have strong enough backup plans.

Bring in Cremates in exchange for pretty much anything you want. As long as you have a Cremate in hand and leave mana open to cast it, you can afford to take your time.

Aggro Decks without Reach

Favorable, because you attack for large amounts of damage sooner. Decks in this category that I've seen include UG Madness and mono-Black or Black/White aggro. Post-board, Pithing Needle on a key card (say, Wild Mongrel)might be worthwhile.

Multicolored Affinity

Favorable. This is pretty much a mirror match, but I think you have the edge because you spend less time screwing around with things that don't deal damage, like ChromaticStar. The cards that define this or the actual mirror match are Cranial Plating and Disciple of the Vault: whoever gets the first Plating or the most Disciples is in the lead. With that in mind, you might consider bringing in Duress to snag their Platings.

If both players have Disciples out, remember that the non-active player's triggered abilities go on the stack first. That means that if you sacrifice your artifacts on their turn, you can resolve your Disciples' abilities and then go on sacrificing more artifacts before their Disciples' abilities resolve.

Random Control

Slightly favorable. You can get in for a lot of damage before they stabilize, and thanks to modular counters and Skullclamp, you may still have more damage sources than they can deal with in the mid-game. Do what you can to prevent the game from going long -- especially since a lot of control decks in this format have the ultimate goal of locking you out completely -- and watch out for Wrath effects.

Boros Deck Wins

Even. Don't be surprised to see Kataki maindeck. Keep Darkblast mana open if you can afford to, and bring in your extra 'blasts from the board.

Mono-Red or Green/Red Aggro/Burn

Unfavorable if they have (and draw) ShatteringSpree, which you can safely assume they do (and will). If they don't, the match-up is probably closer to even. Their goldfish may be slightly slower than yours, but their creature removal is better.

Goblins

Unfavorable. Most of the Goblins decks I've seen are more combo than aggro, even if they happen to win during the attack step. Goblins in play are generally expendable, so they can just chump-block you until they "go off". Your best bet is probably fliers. Bring in Darkblasts.

TEPS

Very unfavorable; they're faster and hard to disrupt. Many of their key cards are still in their deck or sideboard even when they start to go off, which limits your ability to do anything to stop them. On the other hand, they have little if any disruption for you, so the best thing you can do is put them on a fast clock -- Cranial Plating is ideal.

Take out Darkblasts and Welding Jars, which are pretty useless anyway, for Duresses, because... what else are you going to bring in? You might get lucky and hit something important, or you might at least slow them down by a turn or two.

Haterade

Never played it. But considering that it was designed to beat aggro decks in general and Affinity in particular, I'm going to to give it the edge. Artifact destruction and life gain look like its best assets in this match-up. Try to find room for the full complement of Welding Jars and Darkblasts.

Viability and Hate Cards

Asking whether Affinity is viable in the format seems like the wrong question to me. It's got a fast clock, makes use of several cards that were good enough to be banned in Extended, and most importantly it's turned in decent tournament performances. I think that gets it in the door. Instead, let's look at some of the reasons why Affinity might not be viable, and evaluate how much of a threat they represent.

Kataki, War's Wage

Probably the hate card that sees the most play, but in my opinion, not one of the most effective. Not to say that it's not effective; oftenit does its job just fine, but I think it leaves the Affinity deck with too many outs. You can Darkblast (or Shrapnel Blast, or whatever removal you're running) it before its ability ever kicks in. Or you can sacrifice all of your artifacts to Ravager, keeping the Ravager around with a non-artifact land, and start swinging until your opponent is forced to chump-block with Kataki. Or you can just limp along, paying the upkeep costs for a few turns, until you find removal. It is not uncommon for me, as an Affinity player, to win games after a Kataki has resolved. There are cards listed below of which the same cannot be said.

Ultimately, I don't regard Kataki as a serious challenge to Affinity's viability.

Shattering Spree

The only reason Shattering Spree isn't an enormous problem for Affinity is because there aren't a lot of people playing mono-Red. Failing to kill all of the Affinity deck's creatures with Spree really dilutes its effectiveness. Still, it is a potential source of many-for-one card advantage. I can't recall winning a game after a Shattering Spree was played.

Seeds of Innocence

This wouldn't be so bad if you could eat all of your artifacts and regenerate Ravager in response, but since you can't, it's devastating. I'm surprised it doesn't get played more. Recovering afterwards is difficult but not impossible. If you suspect your opponent may have this card, make sure your Skullclamps are always equipped, and maybe hold back a creature or two if you can afford to.

Split Second (Sudden Shock,SuddenDeath, Krosan Grip)

Split Second cards were supposed to hurt Affinity decks by killing Arcbound Ravager or Disciple of the Vault without giving an opportunity to sacrifice a bunch of artifacts in response. In practice, I don't think they've lived up to expectations. It's true that they're better at the job than analogous cards, but they're still only one-for-one in terms of card advantage, and comparatively costly in terms of mana. Most of the time, you just put your Ravager's counters on an Ornithopter andit's back to business as usual.

Null Rod

It's not available online yet, but this is what I foresee as the biggest threat to Affinity's viability. Not being able to play activated abilities of artifacts shuts down Skullclamp and Cranial Plating completely, and leaves Arcbound Ravager little more than a 1/1 for 2, which in turn significantly reduces the effectiveness of Disciple of the Vault. And at 2 mana, Null Rod can hit the table before you even get started. Affinity decks will have to adapt to survive. My guess is that this means splashing Red or Green for some sideboarded artifact destruction.

In Conclusion

So, should you play Affinity in your next Classic tournament? Sure, I guess. If aggro is your preferred style of play, Affinity is one of the fastest decks there is. It's also one of the cheapest to build, and, in my opinion, one of the easiest to learn, so I definitely recommend it for anyone who's new to the format. But wins are by no means guaranteed. There are plenty of hate cards, and everybody expects to see the deck. Games are often an uphill battle.

Assuming that you're going to play Affinity, should you play Mono-Black Affinity? I think so. Let me put it this way: if I were to win the Magic Online Lottery* tomorrow, and suddenly had access to playsets of every card online, I wouldn't change the deck. Though it began as a budget alternative to a "real" Affinity deck, I've come to believe that Mono-Black is in fact the optimal build of Affinity for this format and metagame.

Thanks for reading, and good luck out there.

--Evu

* The Magic Online Lottery is a figment of my imagination.